The Health Check

The first couple of days here were filled with orientation and getting settled. One thing that is required for all foreigners is proper residency papers. In order to get these you have to register at the local police station and have a health check.

Patrick and I went to get our health check one morning. This wasn't a good day for me. I was having some pains in my stomach and side. I knew it was just a problem with my gall bladder since I'd had these pains for a while every couple months. It wasn't very bad this day as I was able to stand and walk for the most part.

During the health check you have to have a chest X-ray, blood work, EKG, vision check, urine test, and an ultrasound. Well, during the ultrasound the lady looked at me with a worried look. She asked me if I spoke English then she proceeded to tell me that I had a gall stone. Great. Just super. I told her to wait a moment and brought my manager, Tommy, into the room. It was what she had told me, I had a rock in my gall bladder.

After a couple of days I got word that there was a problem with my test results. I just thought, "Great, I have AIDS or SARS or something horrible like that." It was said with such urgency and importance that I could swear they were going to tell me that I was dieing. Well, that was not the case. My white blood cell count was really high. Okay, okay, I have an infection. Let's just go the the hospital and I can get one of those truly amazing IV cocktails (those really do seem to work for everything). No, it can't be that easy. Michael, the school's owner, decided that he wanted to take me to his family doctor. Now, that is usually all well and good, but his family doctor practices traditional Chinese medicine.

A couple days later I was picked up by Michael and driven to the doctor. We walk into this large building selling herbs and natural pills. It looked more like a health food store than a doctors' office. We pay a couple RMB and go into a hallway where there are a bunch of old Chinese doctors sitting in cubicles. There weren't exam tables or curtains or doors or anything. Just doctors sitting at desks with a chair for the patient next to the desk. Micheal told the doctor what was wrong with me. The doctor checked my pulse on both of my wrists (as though it would be different or something) then felt my stomach. There was some discussion about me in Chinese and, as is the norm, a small crowd formed. (I get looks quite often but imagine being the only white person in a traditional Chinese doctor's office with no doors or curtains. Everyone wanted to know what was wrong with this strange pale person.) After a couple of minutes we thanked the doctor and went back into the medicine room. We got a bunch of boxes of meds and Michael explained to me how to take them. One was a bunch of little tiny balls that I had to take with hot water. The other was regular pills that I had to take 6 of 3 times a day.

I asked Tommy the next day what the doctor said was wrong with me (as Michael doesn't speak much English). Come to find out my lunar is too high. That's right. My solar is too low and is being thrown off by my high lunar. Because of this I am sick and must avoid cold foods such as bananas. Instead I should eat warm foods like lamb and apples. I still don't know what a warm food is and what a cold food is but I do know to stay away from bananas.

After all this I got my blood checked again and it was off again. So I am now on some Western medicine. We will see how this works and try the test again. And probably again and again.